Free Wake the Dead by Gary F. Vanucci

zombie bodies inside, one by one. It was an exhausting endeavor over the next few hours as he began. His back was suddenly very sore as darkness began to fall. Shadow even helped him by trying to dig a hole beside his, which made him burst out openly in laughter.
    However, a short while later, Shadow was found tearing at zombie body parts and gnawing on them, dragging them away from the pit.
    “That tasty to you?” Alex asked skeptically with another genuine laugh.
    “It must be,” called a voice from behind him, stealing his mirth just as quickly, as the source of the feminine voice registered in his mind.
     “Liv?” he asked, unable to turn around to face her directly. He ran the gamut of emotions in that moment and remained still. Perhaps the exhaustion of the day’s work finally caught up to him.   
    After a long moment, he spun around and sure enough, it was her. She appeared to be unharmed. Shadow growled, but Alex smacked him absently on the snout and the wolf lay down behind him.
    “What happened to you?”
    He looked more closely at her and saw that she had a tear in her eye. Alex was exhausted, covered in dirt and gore from his encounter with the zombies, and from digging the pit. But it all went out of his head when he heard her voice.
    “I thought you were gone forever.”
    “I was checking—I felt like I owed my sister that much.” She began sobbing uncontrollably as she fell to her knees. He ran to her and offered her comfort, embracing her and allowing her to continue sobbing until she stopped of her own accord.
    “So you went after your sister?” Alex asked her, holding her at arm’s length.
    “I went to the rendezvous point, waited there and even spent the night. It’s a few hours northwest of here.”
    “Didn’t run into anything…or anyone?”
    “No sign,” she admitted, looking him in the eyes and regaining her footing. “They never showed, but I did manage to kill one of the zombies who happened into the area. Shot him right in the fucking head,” she said angrily, reenacting the scene for him. “Oh, and this thing really has some kick!”
    She stared at him blankly as Alex continued held her gaze in silence. She finally strode over to stand before him, and held the gun handle out for him to take from her. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to steal your gun.”
    “Well, I understand why you did…now. You know, you could’ve just—“
    “I know. I could have told you. But, I didn’t want my problems to become your problems,” she stated bluntly. “While I do like hanging out here with you, this is your place, not mine.”
    “I’m not going to argue with you about that, so, fair enough,” he said, looking around at the overall mess of the area. “Well, if you feel like you need to earn your keep, I’d be happy for you to help me out. There’s plenty of shit to do around here,” he said with a chuckle, gesturing to the remnants of bodies strewn about haphazardly, and then pointed to the pit. “Just take a look around.”
    “What the hell happened here while I was gone!?,” she asked, as if she had just realized the condition of the cabin area and the bodies. “Are you okay?”
    “I’m fine. They aren’t, though.”
    “The place looks like shit,” she said with a grin, but he did not return it this time, recalling the anguish of the past few hours.
    “We were attacked here by a mob of them. They came in and devoured a deer carcass I had lazily left over the fire last night. I didn’t even consider that it would attract zombies. They fed on the deer and then they came after me and Shadow.”
    “Damn. Maybe they happened upon you by chance?” she suggested. Alex scratched his head and shrugged.
    “I suppose that is possible. Either that or they have a thing for deer meat.”
    “And…how the hell did you survive?!”
    “Wasn’t easy. Took ‘em down mostly with the bow, methodically, one by one. Climbed up on the roof and picked ‘em off,” he said scratching